


Beginnings

by LastCorsair



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23927947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastCorsair/pseuds/LastCorsair
Summary: A little drabble of the beginnings of Bumbleby and WhiteRose, set between volumes 6 and 7.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written in the hiatus between volume 6 and volume 7. Pardon my fluff.

Gravel crunched under Blake's boots as they walked down the moonlit driveway. After they'd reached Atlas, Qrow had produced some emergency contact codes that kept the Atlas military from arresting them long enough for them to explain things to Ironwood. Shocked at how much Ozpin had been keeping from everyone, Ironwood had parked them in a safehouse near the city of Atlas while he thought things over and looked for what confirmation he could find.

It was the first chance everyone had to stop and really rest since before Haven, and Blake was glad. After Beacon, their team had been torn apart, then thrown back together to save Haven and stop Adam. For a moment, Blake felt anger and fear both gnawing at her belly, then she sighed and forced herself to relax. Adam was gone now, he'd finally paid the price for all he'd done, and he couldn't hurt them anymore.

The thought of how many people Adam had already hurt made Blake shiver for a moment and her eyes turned to where her partner was wandering down the road ahead of them. Guilt blossomed in Blake's chest as she remembered how Yang had been hurt defending her from Adam. She stopped dead in her tracks, forcing herself past the darkness, past the urge to run away in guilt. Blake was done running away, now she was going to stand and fight alongside her teammates, alongside…

"Something wrong, Blake?"

Yang was looking back at her now, shopping bags still clutched in hands. What had started out as replacing the coat destroyed when they'd finally taken down Adam had turned into a full-blown shopping expedition, complete with a trip to a hair salon. Blake kept finding herself missing the weight of her hair, now cut to shoulder-length. Honestly, she couldn't say what made her do it, but it just felt like it was time.

The combination of warmth and worry on Yang's faith dispelled the guilt she was fighting like sunlight clearing up morning fog, and the thought Blake had found herself pondering more than once over the past few days slipped past her lips before she could stop it. "Yang… are we just friends, or are we more than that?"

Yang blinked, those gorgeous lavender eyes flicking closed and then opening again. "I don't… I don't follow you, Blake."

Blake sighed, looking up at the traitorous shattered moon that kept her from hiding blush creeping across her face. "What I mean is… After we, we killed Adam, I realized how important you are to me. And I started to think that maybe we were more than just friends, or even really close friends. I thought, I thought about sharing my life with you, about how it m-might feel to wake up with you next to me."

Her partner's hands went limp, her bags thumping down on the gravel. "Blake… are you saying you _like_ me? In, like, a girlfriend kind of way?"

"M-maybe," Blake stuttered, still not daring to look straight at Yang. Dammit, what was wrong with her? "F-forget I said anything."

"Hey." Suddenly Yang's hand was wrapped around hers. "I'm not mad or anything, I guess, just… surprised. I mean, I hadn't really thought about it. You know me, I tend to just go with the flow. But..." Yang smiled, and Blake felt her heart skip a beat as lavender met amber. "But now I am thinking about it, and I really like the idea.

"Blake, you're important to me too, the same way my own family is. That's why it hurt so much when you left. But you're back now, and I'm not letting you go, not ever again. This time, if you run, I'm running with you. Because whatever you're running into, I want to be there with you, facing it by your side."

"I..." Blake's throat got tight, and she had to clear it before she could continue. "S-so what do we do now?"

"Well..." Now Yang looked away, though Blake could swear she saw a flush of crimson across her cheeks, even in the dim moonlight. "I, uh, this is kinda embarrassing, but… as much as I talk big, I'm kinda bad at his romance thing. I mean, I got asked on dates all the time, but never by anybody I really liked before. So, um, we could try a date? That, that's assuming you don't want to call this our first date, I mean we totally could, if you want, if it makes you less nervous."

Blake laughed and pulled her hand from Yang's, reaching up to brush her… girlfriend's (?) cheek. "I think I'm okay with that. Do you think we should tell the others?"

"Nah, let them figure it out for themselves," Yang said, shaking her head gently. "Come on, let's get back before Ruby burns the house down trying to bake the world's biggest chocolate chip cookie or something."

A quick rearrangement off their bags had them walking hand-in-hand down the driveway, both of them sneaking glances at the other out of the corner of their eye before turning away. Neither of them was sure about what there was between them, but both of them were enjoying just being together. As they came into the clearing around the house, an unexpected sight made them pause.

Silhouetted by the porch light were Weiss and Ruby, kissing gently. Blake could see a smile spreading across her partner's face out of the corner of her eye. "Well, that's a thing." Then the blonde shook her head. "Let's wait here until they're done. I don't want to ruin my baby sister's first kiss. But I do want to save the moment," she finished, raising her scroll to take a picture.

Ruby and Weiss were both still standing in the entryway when Blake and Yang followed them in. "H-hey, guys, how was shopping?" Ruby said nervously, looking anywhere but at Weiss or Yang.

"Pretty good. But, well, it kinda turned into a date at the end," Yang said, winking at Blake.

The cat-girl's ears flattened. "I thought you wanted to let everyone figure it out for themselves."

Yang winced, her jovial mood gone. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Blake said, batting playfully at Yang with a shopping bag.

"Well, I figured if you and I were more open about things, then certain other people might feel a bit more comfortable, that's all," Yang drawled, drawing the words out as she turned to look at Ruby.

"'Certain other people?' And to whom are you referring, Yang Xiao Long?" Weiss asked sharply, her arms crossed.

"We saw the two of you on the porch," Blake said, deciding to show some mercy on Ruby and Weiss.

"Yeah, we were on the porch before we came in, it's kinda where they put the front door," Ruby said nervously.

"Blake left out the important fact that we saw the two of you _kissing_ on the porch," Yang said with a smile.

"Shit," Ruby said, then covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"It's fine," Weiss said, taking Ruby's hand in hers. "I was the one that kissed you this time, after all." The white-haired former heiress cleared her throat nervously before continuing. "Ruby and I were dating at Beacon, before the Fall. We kept it low-key for fear of my father's reaction. But this was the first real chance we've had for some time alone since we met up in Mistral."

"Okay, now I'm torn between being mad that you kept this from me, proud you managed to keep it from me, wanting to hear the whole story, and being annoyed because I got a picture of what I thought was you two's first kiss but I guess it wasn't?" Yang said, counting off things on her fingers. "So, color me confused?"

"Ehehe, more details later, Yang, gottagobye!" And with that, Ruby and Weiss were gone in a red-and-white blur, a door slamming upstairs.

"Ruby, come back here! Ruby!" Yang shouted, but her heart wasn't really in it.

"What's all the noise about?" Qrow asked as he wandered from the direction of the kitchen, flask in hand.

"Ruby and Weiss are dating, but that's okay, so are me and Blake," Yang said, making Blake roll her eyes. _So much for keeping things quiet_ _, Yang._

Qrow stopped, his flask almost to his lips, then shook his head. "I'm too sober to deal with this right now," he muttered, heading past them and out the front door.

Alone in the entryway at last, Blake and Yang looked at each other nervously. "So, what now?" Blake asked.

"Well, I kinda want to give my sister and Weiss some space. I mean, it must have been driving Ruby nuts to keep things from us. So, what do you say you and I snuggle up on the couch for and talk for a while?" Yang said, jerking a thumb in the direction of the living room. "Pretty sure there's hot chocolate or tea or something around here somewhere."

Blake thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sounds wonderful."

* * *

_Omake! Omake! Omake!_

"Why am I not surprised to find you in a bar? I thought Ironwood ordered you all to keep a low profile."

Qrow sighed. Of all the babysitters James had to inflict on them… "First of all, he can't give us orders, now can he? None of us are in the military. We're civilians, something you keep trying to ignore, Ice Queen. And second, I needed to get out of the house for a while."

Winter nodded and sat down next to him, ordering a drink of her own. "I understand. Being cooped up with a houseful of children must be tiring for a man old enough to be their father."

"It's not that." Qrow sighed. "Well, the truth is, my nieces are growing up, and that's what made me feel old. Thanks for pointing that out, by the way."

"Qrow, they were hardly children before the Fall of Beacon, and even Ruby is practically an adult now, given everything she's gone through." Winter shook her head as she sipped her drink. "You have to let them grow up sometime."

"Ruby's dating your sister."

Shock flashed across Winter's face for a moment as she froze. "That's a very poor joke, Qrow."

"That's what Yang said, anyway. And Yang's dating Blake, that's the girl with the black hair, in case you missed her name while you were busy looking down your nose at us," Qrow snarked back at Winter before toasting her in the mirror behind the bar.

"I wasn't looking down at you, I was…" Winter sighed. "Growing up as my father's eldest child was very difficult. As the heir apparent, great things were expected of me. My every word and deed were scrutinized and critiqued by him. One way I survived it was with iron self-control."

"You mean being a frigid bitch," Qrow muttered.

"I will pretend I did not hear you. That self-control has served me well." Winter tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "And Weiss has, unfortunately, become a bit too confused by the combination of what our father expects her to be, and the ideal she strives to emulate in our grandfather. But seeing her the last couple of days, she seems to have… clarified what was confusing her. Perhaps associating with Ruby will be good for her."

"Maybe. I've never seen Ruby interested in anything but being a Huntress, and now this other thing, so it might do her some good too, make her realize there's more to life. Wouldn't do you any harm to lighten up yourself," Qrow added, smiling at Winter.

"Perhaps." Winter frowned. "Unfortunately, too many of the men that show an interest in me are either adrenaline addicts or see me as a gateway to the Schnee fortune. And I don't feel any interest in women."

"Sounds rough. Maybe the solution is to pick a man you're interested in, instead of the other way around."

"That wouldn't be pro-" A thought made Winter pause. "Father always said it was proper for a lady to wait for a man to show interest, but my life has proven him wrong about a great many other things, so why not that as well."

Qrow laughed. "There we go, Ice Queen, that's the first step to getting that stick out of your ass." Before he could take another drink, Winter put her hand on his.

"And here is the next. What do you say we continue this conversation somewhere else, somewhere they serve real food instead of offerings only intended to soak up alcohol? And if you ever, _ever_ call me 'Ice Queen' again, I will kick your ass so hard you'll know what your own rectum tastes like," she said in a tone so devoid of inflection Qrow couldn't be sure how she meant it.

"Huh. Okay."


End file.
